Leadership

Overview

The Einstein Animal Physiology Core assists biomedical investigators in the in vivo assessment of glucose and fatty acid metabolism, insulin sensitivity and energy homeostasis in mice and rats. The Animal Physiology Core offers a wide range of specialized, high quality methodologies and tools relevant to understanding the behavior and physiology mediating the relationships among diabetes, nutrient sensing, obesity and diabetic cardiovascular complications in rodents.

Objectives

To offer advice and instruction to students, postdoctoral fellows, investigators and technical staff in the
design and performance of physiological approaches and techniques necessary to evaluate the control of
glucose homeostasis and insulin action in rodents.

To make available to investigators specialized measurements of whole body and tissue-specific
glucose metabolism and insulin action in rodent models including insulin, pancreatic and hyperglycemic clamps.

To provide specialized gastrointestinal and neural surgical models for the study of insulin sensitivity,
energy balance, and glucose and fatty acid metabolism, including gastric bypass and adipose tissue
denervation.

To provide assessment of the effects of diet, exercise, light/dark cycle and environmental temperature
on glucose homeostasis and metabolism.

To make available to investigators specialized measurements of rodent adipose tissue distribution
using magnetic resonance spectroscopy and microCT, and measurements of glycogen in liver and muscle,
intrahepatic lipids and intramyocellular lipids using NMR.

To make available to investigators specialized measurements of brain energy and glucose utilization by
functional MRI (fMRI) and microPET scanning.

To assist investigators in the interpretation of data and to design further experimental approaches to
reveal the molecular and physiologic basis of rodent phenotypes.

Services Provided

The following services and determinations have been provided by the Core during the current project
period and/or will be available to ES-DRC investigators. These services can be divided into three overall
components:

In vivo assessment of insulin sensitivity and action, energy balance, and exercise. These assessments are augmented by the new surgical procedures permitting selective targeting of brain and peripheral nervous system and intestinal sites.

Core Invoice

Prioritization

Use of this Core is available to investigators engaged in diabetes-related research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and its affiliated Institutions, and to investigators at other institutions. The Core generally supports projects funded by peer-reviewed grants, generally from the NIH, ADA, or JDRF.